Having switched at Aksu our sleeper bus bridged the gap between the Northern and Southern Silk Roads by crossing the Taklamakan desert bypassing the Lop Nur salt marshes.

At Khotan we took in another Mao statue, ate more Uyghur food and searched for precious stones in the Jade Dragon River. "Pretty but worthless Quartz" as the Rough Guide described, was all we found, having marvelled at the oddity of folk lined up presumably selling what are essentially shiny but fairly standard rocks.

On to Yarkand (Sha che to the Chinese) - a lively but semi authentic settlement with bags of character.

We found Cavos, a fizzy honey-based beverage, the hops giving it a beery taste yet it's wholly non-alcoholic, so a winner with the Muslim community.

And so it is with the history; a tomb of a Uyghur heroine, an Islamic burial ground and conveted fort with a similar theme.

A thriving spirit, smoke billowing from the grills of meat skewers, streets lined with water melons (as the region demands!), bikes and rickshaws weaving in and out of busy revellers.

But Kashgar was calling, the last leg of China and a nerve-wracking mission across the border...